Member Movie Reviews

Herbert M. (vunderbar) from SAN DIEGO, CA Reviewed on 11/17/2008...

Outstanding historical revue that makes the Civil War understandable from the early roots of unrest, through secesion to the end of the war. It is only marred by the fact that most of the reenactments were by Civil War buffs, whose portrayal of the battles, no matter how accurate, cannot ever be like the real thing.

3 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

Amateur Video

John A. Marckesano | Northern virginia | 12/06/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"If you find it hard to believe that a 5 DVD set would cost less than $20, you'll learn why when you watch the first DVD. The visual portion consists mainly of spliced scenes from old movies, a wholly inappropriate way to present history. The narrative is informative if you are new to the topic, and the text contains a few moving moments, most notably when they imitate Ken Burns method of reading eyewitness accounts, but the program lacks a compelling dramatic structure, making the overall result unsatisfactory."

Very Disappointing

Mike | Canton, MI USA | 04/19/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Just a collection of old movie clips and amateur video. A definite political revisionist documentary blaming the whole civil war on slavery. The use of old black and white poor quality video improperly gives the viewer a sense that it is actual footage, if they don't understand that technology was not available."

Not a very good dvd set

justice4all72 | 06/29/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this dvd set thinking I would recieve such a bargain, but I was wrong. This DVD set is not very good at all. The dvd quality is terrible! Mostly old movies with a voiceover, I found this to be distracting. The only good part of this set is that a copy of "Glory" was included but not in its DVD case but a sleeve. I would stay away from this set unless you want Glory with extra dvd's containing info on the civil war. Get Ken Burn's CIvil War for the best experience."

For the Buff on a Budget

RoastBeefSalad | Elburn, Illinois United States | 04/21/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not as refined, taut, or gripping as Ken Burns' work, this does serve as an excellent introduction to Civil War history. And the price is unbeatable. Consider that Both sets are of similar length, and that Ken Burns' Civil War is over $100... quite an investment. (Worth it if you can afford it, however) Though low budgeted, the filmmakers do quite a lot with stock footage, photos, and reenactments.

The version of "The American Civil War" I purchased came packaged with a widescreen copy of "Glory". Which was certainly welcome as well."